Tutorial hell is a contemplative cage you need to avoid
Tutorial hell is the fate of anyone lost in “I’m learning” instead of “I’m doing”. Keep in mind that the best thing you can do to learn is to undertake the act itself, observation is a comfort zone that keeps you from feeling vulnerable because learning brings with it a share of insecurity that is good, it questions (problematizes) what you know in order to introduce new knowledge.
No tutorial is bad (at least not in its essence as educational material, the quality of it is another thing), what is really bad is the pedagogical use that is currently given to it as a one-dimensional tool for learning. Assuming that the learning process will demand only this kind of static, passive, and reactive attention is a mistake for which both course promoters and course consumers are guilty. Self-learning and modern virtual education require a change in the vision of the actors involved.
Tutorial Hell — People who teach
First of all, courses should not be an expository and monothematic space in the sense of the presentation of their contents; they demand dynamism, didactics, and a special relationship with the practical sense of their learning objectives.
Before embarking on a new training course, beyond the title of the course, pay attention to the teaching method they propose, the way they approach their exercises, the type of projects they carry out, or, in the end, the type of results they expect to obtain with the completion of each of their classes or modules. Ideally, these exercises put you in that place where you are faced with building something, rather than observing something.
As I said before, tutorials, MOOCs, courses, trainings, bootcamps, etc, are not bad in their essence, in many cases, they are a guide for someone who brings with them a great load of uncertainties and who appreciates having a learning path designed (and secured) in a pre-established format. The greatest burden for self-learning is uncertainty; an established study route is a safe zone capable of offering much peace of mind. However, we must not confuse the certainties of tutorials (security) with their duties at the educational level (practicality of their contents). Any course should be designed to guide you to “do” and not only to “see”.
In some very specific cases, you may go to a tutorial for something in particular, to learn something specific or a solution to something, in those cases the responsibility of the exercise lies not only in the tutorial but in your ability to put it into practice the knowledge you went to look for. Speaking of you… let’s talk about your responsibilities.
Tutorial Hell — People who learn
As I said before, tutorials are only a portion of your learning, empowering what you learn depends largely on you and on your ability to get involved in the practical sense of the knowledge you are acquiring.
Don’t confuse this with the repetition done just as you are observing it by the course instructor, getting involved with your learning will demand your creativity to come up with scenarios that apply what you are learning. How? By changing the exercise and printing your imagination quota, rethinking different applications or ways in which what you are learning can be used, and researching that particular topic in more than one source. The idea is that you break out of the mold or at least question it by rethinking and looking at it from more than one view, not just the one you are shown in the tutorial.
Transforming learning to be meaningful needs you to stop being a mirror of the tutorial, only in this way you are giving yourself the space to really apprehend the ideas, you are taking them out of the context in which they are presented to you to use them in a context that is real and more present to you.
Learning needs you more than ever and your role is the most important to get results. All the rest are tools, data, and information at your disposal. Use them in the best possible way.
As always, in any case, just keep going.
See you next time.
